The next day was rather uneventful for Dudley – as far as days spent in the wizarding world went. Dudley felt much better after the previous day's events and managed to have a relatively peaceful day.
The day after that Dudley found himself yet again peacefully eating lunch with Neville and Cho. The meal was going well until a loud beeping noise sounded from the fireplace.
"Assembly in the great hall in five minutes," a gruff voice said. Dudley noticed that it was coming from the speaker Neville talked about. There was another loud beep and then there was silence.
Everyone reluctantly finished their meal and went to get ready for the assembly. Dudley put on some spare school robes and tucked Amycus' wand that he won a few days ago in his large pocket. He followed the large mass of students making their way down to the great hall.
"I wonder what they want this time," Neville sighed as they approached the great hall.
The Slytherins were already standing in their designated area, sneering as the other students rushed into the hall and took their place.
Standing at the front of the great hall was Severus Snape, his emotionless face curling into a sneer as the hall grew silent.
"Now," Snape began with his hands behind his back. "As most of you are probably aware, the Hogwarts Express will be departing from Kings Cross station in two days time."
The hall was dead silent, which only made the situation tenser.
"Do not think that I have failed to notice the absence of nearly half of our school," Snape continued to drawl. "All students are expected to return this year. If they wish to disobey these orders, they may find themselves in a..." Snape paused as he turned his head towards the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor houses. "Sticky situation," he finished, raising his eyebrows in a frightening way.
Dudley gulped. Severus Snape had a knack of being terrifying even without appearing to be trying.
"Also, I want to announce the joining of houses," Snape continued.
Whispers erupted around the hall, and Dudley swore he heard someone yell 'wait until my father hears about this!'
"SILENCE," Snape bellowed, his face terrifyingly contorted. "Now, the staff and I have seen it fit to join the houses of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, to ensure those who are actually talented do not have to mix with those less able..." Snape smirked again then continued. "Your new house name will be decided in the future. For now there will be the Slytherins... and the others."
Dudley turned to Neville, who looked furious with this change. Dudley didn't know much about the history of Hogwarts, but he knew enough to realise that this change was tremendous. The Slytherins were looking rather pleased with themselves, while the 'other' house was looking appalled. Dudley looked back to Neville again, whose face had gone from contorted fury to blank and emotionless. This was much scarier though, as Dudley could tell the darkness and bad wishes for the current headmaster were practically bursting inside of Neville.
Once the hall finally silenced, Snape began to speak again.
"So again, all students must be in this hall in two days time... or else..." Snape glared at the students. "Now get out!" He snapped.
The student body rushed out of the great hall and hurried back to their hide out. Dudley, Neville and Cho were up at the front, as they strode down the corridor.
"That is bloody outrageous!" Neville exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. "Hogwarts has always had four houses, four very different houses," he continued as they entered the room of requirement. "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are all as different to each other as they are to Slytherin."
Sighing, he fell onto the couch, followed by Cho and Dudley.
"Well, at least we're officially all together now," Cho reasoned. "We have been working alongside each other for long enough now to be named as one house."
"I know," Neville agreed, "but it's still the intentions behind this."
The three nodded their heads in agreement.
"Should we go and tell Aberforth?" Dudley asked, hoping to see his parents again.
"Good idea," Neville replied, standing up with Dudley. "Would you like to come with us this time, Cho?"
"I'd like that," she answered, also standing up. "It would be nice to leave the castle for a while."
And so the three headed off to the portrait and climbed in.
"This is rather narrow," Cho commented as they walked down the long tunnel.
When they got to the other side, they found Aberforth sitting on his armchair and reading a book.
"Ah, I was wondering when you would come to visit again," Aberforth said, putting his book down. He motioned for them all to take a seat. "And who might you be?" He asked Cho as she sat down.
"I'm Cho Chang," she replied, "a friend of Neville and Dudley."
"Well, welcome" Aberforth began, "it's funny you should come today."
"Why is that?" Dudley asked.
"Today happens to be the day that Harry Potter turns seventeen."
"So that means that-"
"The good news is," Aberforth interrupted, "Potter is no longer traceable by the ministry. The bad news is that the protection Lily Potter gave to her son is no longer there. Harry is now more vulnerable than ever."
"So what do we do?" Cho asked nervously.
"The only thing we can do – keep an eye on him through the mirror," Aberforth answered, gesturing towards the shard of glass still on his wall.
There was an awkward silence after that, but it was short lived as a crash and a yell sounded from upstairs. The entire room shook and rattled. Dudley thought it might have been an earthquake.
Everyone rushed upstairs to Vernon and Petunia's room to find Vernon on the floor and Petunia standing over him in disapproval. She quickly helped him up and found four concerned looking wizards in their doorway.
"Is everything alright in here?" Aberforth asked, lowering his wand. "It seemed like the ground was moving underneath us."
"Oh, just fine, yes..." Vernon stuttered, clearly embarrassed.
Dudley knew that his father liked to come across as superior, especially to the wizarding kind. Not wanting to embarrass his father further, Dudley chose to keep his knowledge to himself. It was a common occurrence for Vernon to fall out of bed back at their house.
Dudley broke the silence by giving his parents a hug, much to Petunia's delight.
"Oh Dudders!" she exclaimed, covering him in kisses. Dudley felt himself go bright red as he realised he had an audience.
Eventually, his mother let him go and they were able to descend down the stairs again, back into Aberforth's sitting room.
"Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?" Aberforth asked as they all stood around Ariana's portrait.
Neville was the one to speak up this time. "We thought we would let you know that our dear headmaster Snape has decided to join the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor houses to form one large house."
Aberforth's eyes narrowed, fixing his gaze onto the mirror on the wall. "While it is rather outrageous for him to do such a thing, I suspect that will be the least of you problems."
The three teens nodded grimly.
"I guess we should be going now," Neville continued.
"I will keep you informed if there are any signs of danger in the mirror," Aberforth called out as the three teens climbed through the portrait. He sighed as he watched them walk down the passage and disappear from sight.
The next day was another relatively peaceful day. Dudley tried to make use of the free time by reading some of Neville's school textbooks, trying to take in as much as he could before the school year started. He also decided to help Cho with the medical room, practising cleaning spells with Amycus' old wand that he had won a few days earlier in his first battle. It was still beyond him how he had managed to accomplish such a thing. He should be far from qualified with a wand considering his terrible quality of the education he tried to give himself. He hoped the lessons at Hogwarts would teach him more and hopefully ready him for a proper battle he planned to take part in, in the future.
After dinner, Dudley and Neville sat by the fireplace, reading books of spells. Cho was sitting nearby with her friend Olivia, talking. Dudley looked up from his book momentarily to find a good-looking guy sit down next to Cho. Dudley felt a pang of jealously surge through him, but he attempted to ignore it and looked back down at his book. He heard Cho giggle occasionally, and found it quite hard to concentrate on the words in front of him.
He looked up from his book again and tried to listen in to their conversation. It wasn't that hard since most students chose to sit quietly at night.
He heard the guy's muffled voice, "-go with me... whenever we get the chance we could..."
He was suddenly interrupted by Cho's voice. "That is very sweet of you, but I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now," she said politely.
Sighing with relief, Dudley resisted the urge to smile as he went back to his book. Before he could look back down at it, Neville caught his eye. He raised his eyebrows at Dudley, but Dudley pretended not to see and went back to his reading.
A few minutes later, a voice erupted from nowhere, "ATTENTION!"
Dudley, Neville and Cho recognised the voice immediately, and the three got up and rushed off to the portrait, a mob of students following behind them curiously.
When the three arrived, they found Aberforth standing in the entrance to the tunnel, looking a bit frantic.
"The ministry has fallen," he announced grimly. "They have taken over the government."
The room immediately erupted in urgent talk. Aberforth signalled for Dudley, Neville and Ch to follow him back to his house. Before the three got the chance to approach the portrait, Aberforth turned swiftly and was already making his way down the tunnel.
The three ran after him, trying to catch up.
"Aberforth," Neville panted when they finally caught up to the old man, who was still walking surprisingly fast. "What happened?" Neville continued to question.
Aberforth didn't answer as he stepped down into his sitting room. Dudley, Cho and Neville quickly sat down along with Aberforth, impatiently waiting for answers.
"There was a wedding this afternoon," Aberforth began. "Some guests were powerful, famous wizards. So naturally, this event was a target. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley were there, along with a few other Hogwarts students..."
"Was Luna there?" Neville quickly asked.
"Yes, she and her father were there," Aberforth replied just as quickly. "No one was seriously injured," he added, "most apparated away."
With this knowledge, Neville breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened to Harry and his friends?" Dudley asked.
"They also apparated away from the scene," Aberforth continued. "No one has heard any word from them yet, but I believe they are in a safe place. From what I saw in the mirror, it looks like they are in Grimmauld Place. It is a heavily guarded meeting point for the order of the phoenix, a group formed to act against Voldemort."
"So they are safe?" Dudley questioned.
"Yes, for now they are safe..." Aberforth's gaze drifted towards the mirror on the wall. "But then again, nowhere is really safe anymore.
Thank you for reading!
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